What a mess. When we came to this small kingdom, we were only going to try to take these lands as the early steps to world conquest. I would have preferred to avoid any unnecessary fighting. I knew how unlikely that was, but I didn’t expect it to go about like this.

  All this stuff of using their fellow humans as resources for these [Stout Black Root] was already enough to make my stomach churn. But I didn’t think these roots would be this problematic for us. I was even forced to keep my army at the sidelines in fear of any unnecessary casualties. I know some of them were itching to show off their skills, my orcs for sure.

  Well maybe they’ll have better luck in the next conquest, for now we need to deal with this one.

  As if coming at the right time, Zeph and the others had run out of the gates with a group of humans following behind. Many of them looked ragged wearing old torn clothes while having so little weight to their bodies that their bones could be seen. It was easy to tell what their predicament was.

  Striding in the front Zeph waved to me with his hat. “Sorry we’re late bossman, ran into a few snags but our infiltration was a success. Come say hi you all.”

  He put his hat back on then stepped to the side letting the ragged humans come forward and introduce themselves. To my surprise, they didn’t flinch when seeing me and my other monster followers.

  One woman looked right at me and spoke up. “Are you really Lord Vladimir?”

  So I’m finally getting enough recognition to being easier to spot huh? I puffed my chest as I answered back. “Why yes, it is me. I’m glad to see you are all safe sound.”

  She turned her head back to Zeph. “You weren’t kidding. Your lord really is a small creature. No wonder people call him the [Tiny Tyrant]!”

  I lost my composure and coughed off a storm. No matter how many times I hear it I can never get used to that ridiculous moniker! No matter, it’s not the important topic right no- Hey! I see you laughing to yourself Zeph! And you three stooges as well!!

  I was instinctively stomping on the ground in embarrassment which only made the rest of my followers chuckle as well!

  This just left the humans all confused, at least it helped the prisoners to calm down a bit. Though the soldiers looked more freaked out. Strangely, they weren’t reacting as strongly to their defeat but more so to the ragged humans’ freedom.

  “Y-you can’t release them! If you do that then…”

  …well seems I got a bit of interrogating to do. Not helped by the fact that I could see the civilians come out to check on the commotion who also reacted rather negatively as well.

  “…interesting. I could at least understand the soldiers’ expressions. Must have to follow orders or something. But I am quite curious why this city’s civilians are giving such an expression when a fellow human who is looking in such poor state is freed. Care to explain?”

  I glared at the civilians, they back up immediately feeling intimidated. Though that wasn’t enough to stop one of them from calling me out.

  “A monster like you has no right to judge us! For all you know they could be criminals!”

  I tilted my head, finding my body starting to walk on its own. “Really now. You make it sound like you’re not quite sure of yourself. And yet one of you was rather against the idea of freeing them regardless. How interesting.”

  Another one came out, dressed in rather professional clothing. Based on that I would have to assume that they were the one in charge in this place, or at least in a higher position. “I assure you monster, that these people deserve their imprisonment. Return them now.”

  “Ah I see, so they deserve to be taken as material to be used in these?” I took out a bag and tossed it to the side, revealing its contents to the ground.

  Every one of the humans was stunned while the one who were imprisoned could only look away in disgust. The man in charge could barely muster in a question. “W-where did you get that?”

  Ignoring him I continued. “[Stout Black Root]. Quite a particular plant, have you heard of it?”

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  They were all silent. It was quite easy to tell that they indeed heard of this plant. Their guilty expression was all I needed. “It’s a rather an interesting one. They provide a temporary boost in [Strength] and [Health]. And all for the low low price of freshly deceased humans.”

  “Are you accusing us! How do we know that you di-”

  I stopped this creature’s rambling off immediately by reforging the air around it away from his head for just a second. That was enough for him to choke on his words before he desperately gasped for air. I felt a sharp pain in my head for using a complicated move, but I ignored it and countered back.

  “If you’re trying to accuse us just cause we are monsters. It’s as simple as checking your soldiers’ pockets since they all had taken such drugs not that long ago. As you can see, they’re currently suffering the aftereffects after trying to gain an advantage over us” I causally pointed at the defeated soldiers who looked weakened and out there.

  The important looking man tried to speak after regaining his breathing, but I continued before he could utter another word.

  “Or we could simply check your underground facility you have hidden at the corners of your castle. I’m sure we could find a few interesting things don’t you think Zeph?”

  My vulture Beastman played with his hat a bit as he answered. “You’re quite right bossman, plus I’m sure our new friends here can more than testify.”

  The freed humans nodded their heads, making sure to keep their distance from the citizens.

  “What gives you the right!? You have no authority here!!”

  I sighed and completely disregarded anything else he had to say. “Seems there is a lot of clean up here before we can properly take over this place. Maybe we should start by cutting off the source?”

  At that moment, I found my eyes glued at the well-dressed man. Whatever arrogant anger he was showcasing earlier was quickly draining away as I drew out my blade. My steps slow but steady as inch ever closer to him.

  Everything around me was started to blur out with each step with the only thing in my mind fixated on the man or rather…. The trash before me.

  “Wa-wait! We can talk about this!”

  I don’t feel the mood in listening to the words of trash like him. Honestly, it’s amazing how easily it’s becoming for me to get disgusted by humans like these. How easy it is for me to take certain actions against them, considering how I was once a human. Is it because I’m a monster now? Because I can more freely act out what I’m thinking?

  Who knows, for now I should ju-

  “Mr. Vlad?”

  Suddenly I was aware of the surroundings. Following that voice, I saw the concern look of V’s face and I realized what I was doing. Now that I thought about it, this was probably not the best course of action in the long run.

  I put away my blade before returning to my army. The man breathed a sigh of relief.

  “We’re not done here yet. We’re going to see how dirty your hands are and decide what to do then.”

  I called out to my minions, giving them the orders to check the soldiers to see if they were holding any spare [Stout Black Root] just in case before they took turns to monitor them while I moved to the side and motioned Paimoth to provide me with a place to sit so I could take a break.

  I couldn’t help but noticed some of them were a bit cautious around me. Though that didn’t stop V from coming up next to me. Soon enough the rest of my henchman came by as well, Jordan having returned after properly nourishing himself while wiping off his lips.

  Things were a bit silent, it seems no one wanted to say anything about what had just happened earlier.

  That is until Mordred spoke up. “Humans are…. Complicated aren’t they boss?”

  …subtlety has never been Mordred’s strengths. It was obvious that he was trying to scurry through the issue without being direct.

  But since he’s trying might as well indulge him a little bit. “They sure are. I find it funny that a lot of them want to see us monsters considering the kind of stuff we find them doing.”

  Another silence, maybe we should stop this conversation for now. I can feel V lean in closer out of concern.

  After some time resting, I could feel some of my Mana recovered. During that time, I had my minions give an aggressive take searching in the Ebonatum kingdom. Of course, the citizens weren’t exactly pleased with their situation but right now I don’t really care.

  I decided for a change I would leave it up to the three stooges. Not only for the fact to show them how even a ‘weak’ race like us kobolds could do such tasks but to give those three another chance to prove themselves since they did so well with the infiltration. Plus, it was Zeph’s suggestion, so I indulged.

  They sure are growing on him. Maybe I should consider making them henchmen as well. But that would mean I would need to give them their own names. Well, it isn’t exactly a requirement, but it just feels weird to exclude them.

  As I was pondering on the names those three appeared to give their reports. “So, what did you find.”

  “It’s a lot more than we initially thought.”

  “A lot of the buildings actually housed concerning tools that could be used for kidnapping.”

  “I think most if not all of the kingdom is in on it.”

  That was what they had to say. So, my guess was right. This runs a lot deeper than first appeared, it’s like a freaking drug cartel in this kingdom!! Now that I have a clearer head to think about it, ridding that man wouldn’t have solve the issue. Nor would trying to rid more of them either. That would only make things more difficult to convert them properly as my minions. And besides, right now I don’t have the heart to make V worry more than I already did.

  The question now was what should I do at this moment instead?

  As I pondered into figuring out an idea, I couldn’t help but noticed some of the citizens’ gaze were looking right past me.

  “Now what do we have here? A bunch of dastardly monsters preying on innocent civilians?!”